The aircraft maker's latest innovation for getting more passengers into planes is a hinged saddle. Oof.

by Emma Haslett

Published: 14 Jul 2014

Last Updated: 15 Jul 2014

It's the week of Farnborough Air Show - the period, every two years, when the aviation industry unveils its (sometimes) bonkers new designs. So it's appropriate that Airbus has just filed a new patent - for the most uncomfortable-looking seats imaginable.

Yep, those are rows of hinged saddles - sans decent back support, sans tray tables - which will allow the aircraft manufacturer to cram as many seats as possible into its planes. 'To increase the number of cabin seats, the space allotted to each passenger must be reduced,' says the application.

It's worth pointing out that a) aviation authorities might not like it - as per Ryanair's thwarted plans to introduce standing tickets and b) companies like this submit hundreds of patents a year, many of which are never used.

'Many, if not most, of these concepts will never be developed,' Airbus spokesperson Mary Anne Greczyn told the LA Times. 'Right now these patent fillings are simply conceptual.' Let's hope they stay that way...